Artificial insemination may be accomplished by several techniques, such as intrauterine insemination or slow release insemination. Intrauterine insemination may be preferable to cervical insemination, because the cervical canal may be hostile due to various factors, such as viscous mucus, acidic mucus, infections, and sperm antibodies. Another reason may be a significant loss of semen that flows down to the vagina. However, intrauterine insemination has disadvantages as well, such as loss of sperm material to the cervix and vagina.
Although many solutions have been proposed to improve IUI, these solutions are far from perfect.